Garrett I Therenane
Garrett I was the nineteenth monarch of Dorio. He was known for the stability of his reign and the improvement of Dorian international relations. Early life Garrett was born in 306, as the younger son of Herbert III, and was consequently not expected to be in line for the throne. As a result, Garrett spent most of his youth learning about finances and stewardship rather than direct rule. When Benedict III came to the throne, Dorio was in the throes of a sandfever epidemic, leading Garrett— sturdier than his brother— to make several public appearances on his behalf. Modest and uncharismatic, Garrett came to have some appeal among the peasantry, who saw him as a "prince of the people"; however, he was a reluctant ruler, and after Benedict's infant son died in 321, Garrett was forced to learn rhetoric and public presentation. Reign Garrett ascended the throne in 326, not long before his twentieth birthday; his immediate goal was to seek a repair of Dorio's relations with Daravia, which had been strained throughout the past half-century. Towards this end, Garrett relaxed restrictions on Vazo-Heplians within Dorio, a move that gratified Daravia but angered Lord Reverend Neuman Zian. Striking a balance between these competing interests came to occupy much of Garrett's early years in power, as well as continuing his predecessors' interests in advancing medical infrastructure. In the autumn of 339, the warmongering Vicran prince Jamshid VI began a campaign to try to expand Vicra into the Isthmus of Kenkor. Reaction was swift by both Garrett and Armand, and Jamshid's plans were shortly shut down. Encouraged by the success of this partnership, Garrett and Armand decided to pursue other military matters together; documents suggest that they had been planning a recapture of Sunica when Armand died of redpox in 345, putting a halt to their mission. Armand's successor, Armand II, was more internally focused and pro-parliament, which led to cooler relations with Garrett, who was still skeptical of parliament's value. Thus, Garrett decided to focus on economic matters instead. After several meetings with Cyros Canthos, the exuberant young Lord Reverend, Garrett decided to try spreading the faith farther through the world; this led to prominent Dorian markets growing in the Saltsmoke Desert nations, which had already begun accumulating Heplians in their citizenry. Dubbed the "books and muskets" market, this allowed Dorio to get involved in the latest gunpowder innovations. Garrett began to grow fat later in his life, as a consequence of his long stable reign, and in the 360s cardiac troubles began to plague him. Thus, in 364, Garrett succumbed to a heart attack in his sleep. Personal life Garrett married Ellen Grandelburg, a Daravian woman, shortly after ascending the throne. Very close from their first meeting, the pair was quick to have a son, future king Benedict IV of Dorio, and in the ensuing years they went on to have three more children. They remained closely paired through Garrett's reign, causing Ellen's death in 363 to have a serious impact on Garrett. Garrett encouraged a broad education for all of his children, although only Elba, the second-born, took to the intellectual lifestyle as much as Garrett had. Category:Dorians Category:Therenane Family Category:Monarchs